Call that humiliation? No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch .

Terry JonesSaturday March 31, 2007 The Guardian

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are. It is also unacceptable that these British captives should be made to talk on television and say things that they may regret later. If the Iranians put duct tape over their mouths, like we do to our captives, they wouldn't be able to talk at all. Of course they'd probably find it even harder to breathe - especially with a bag over their head - but at least they wouldn't be humiliated. And what's all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It's time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That's one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay. The true mark of a civilised country is that it doesn't rush into charging people whom it has arbitrarily arrested in places it's just invaded. The inmates of Guantánamo, for example, have been enjoying all the privacy they want for almost five years, and the first inmate has only just been charged. What a contrast to the disgraceful Iranian rush to parade their captives before the cameras! What's more, it is clear that the Iranians are not giving their British prisoners any decent physical exercise. The US military make sure that their Iraqi captives enjoy PT. This takes the form of exciting "stress positions", which the captives are expected to hold for hours on end so as to improve their stomach and calf muscles. A common exercise is where they are made to stand on the balls of their feet and then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates intense pain and, finally, muscle failure. It's all good healthy fun and has the bonus that the captives will confess to anything to get out of it. And this brings me to my final point. It is clear from her TV appearance that servicewoman Turney has been put under pressure. The newspapers have persuaded behavioural psychologists to examine the footage and they all conclude that she is "unhappy and stressed". What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her "unhappy and stressed". She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on. As Stephen Glover pointed out in the Daily Mail, perhaps it would not be right to bomb Iran in retaliation for the humiliation of our servicemen, but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer - whether by beefing up sanctions, as the Mail suggests, or simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.

"...A human being is a psychosomatic unit. Now, neurological studies explain what is taking place in our "neuro-transmittor", the brain, and we can even make visible those electric impulses in the brain. But we do not know how they arise. Science and religion are working in the same human being. What is this spirit inside us that makes possible imagination, curiosity and even causes healing?So where does the spirit come from? This is both a scientific and a theological question. Science gives answers to questions on the Big Bangs, on black holes and the expansion of the universe. Religious philosophers would like to know whether we are alone in the universe and whether creation only happened because of humankind.Science and religion are actually compatible, just so long as religion is not dogmatic. Is there an intelligent designer behind the cosmos? Is God the first (and last) source for our whole behaviour? Even for our scientific curiosity?..."

Tuesday, 27 March 2007

"...Two powers control human thinking: science and religion. They move on different paths but both have the same departure point and the same goal. The cause? Curiosity. The goal? Knowledge. All our doing and thinking is about science and religion. What has faith to do with research? What has scientific insight to do with faith? A church that ignores the secure scientific insights is dogmatic and will not be able to survive in a planetary society. Self-righteousness cannot go with science. And the science that ignores awe and the inner voice of religious feelings will find it hard to exist as we, the religious ones and the scientific ones, live in the same world..."

"...time and mind are inseparable. Remove time from the mind and it stops-unless you choose to use it.To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time: the compulsion to live almost exclusively through memory and anticipation. This creates an endless preoccupation with past and future and an unwillingness to honor and acknoweledge the present moment and allow it to be. The compulsion arises because the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form. Both are illusions.Time isn't precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: Now.That is precious indeed , the more you are focused on time-past and future-the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is..."

Sunday, 18 March 2007

"...A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning... "

Saturday, 17 March 2007

"...I am and I repeat this in each of my books-a believer in God and a God-fearing person. I pray too, every day. My poor brain is not capable of defining God. Many cleverer people than I have tried to, and still, for me, God is something quite extraordinary and certainly unique. I am in agreement with the great world religions: there can only be one God. And that which we call God must be infallible, timeless, omnipresent and omnipotent. Those are the very least characteristics we have to concede to God with deep respect. It will never be possible to describe God or to nail down the Holy Spirit anywhere on a timeline.Science tells us, at the beginning, hydrogen was all there was, or the Big Bang. And what caused the Big bang? What was before the Big Bang? This Big Bang, the super-clever astrophysicists tell us, happened about 15 thousand million years ago and lasted a fraction of a second. But we are unable to explain that fraction of a second. Nothing arises from nothing-even the most intricate mathematical formulas will not overcome that obstacle..."

"...If we start with the question 'What is God?', we could equally well ask, 'Who (or what) created God?' There is no end-or better, no beginning. Human beings made a father figure out of God, a person who commands and punishes, praises and criticises. This is certainly not what Cretion is about. Theologians argue that we should grant this creator being the ability to be able to transform into a person at any moment, and to take on human form. That may well be . But even then, this God-Person should retain its divine attributes. Naturally, I am familiar with concepts of God from different religions and philosophical schools, and in the end , they all boil down to the same thing: whatever God is, "it' should be eternal, timeless, perfect and omnipresent. It was Albert Einstein who coined the phrase, 'God does not play dice.'..."

Grandpa: [to Dwayne] Fuck a lotta women, kid, I have no reason to lie to you. Not just one, a lotta women.Richard: Okay, dad, I think we get it.Grandpa: [to Dwayne] Are you getting it? Is it going in anywhere? No, don't show me the pad. I don't wanna see the fucking pad

"...I ask myself: are defeats necessary? Well, necessary or not, they happen. When we first begin fighting for our dream, we have no experience and make many mistakes. The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.So, why is it so important to live our personal calling if we are going to suffer more than other people? Because, once we have overcome the defeats, and we always do, we are filled by a greater sense of euphoria and confidence. In the silence of our hearts, we know that we are proving ourselves worthy of the miracle of life. Each day, each hour, is part of the good fight. We start to live with enthusiasm and pleasure. Intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable; the latter goes on for years and, without noticing, eats away at our soul, until, one day, we are no longer able to free ourselves from the bitterness and it stays with us the rest of our lives..."

"...in the scheme of nature, everything correlates and connects with everything else..."

"...intention is the real power behind desire..."

"...you intent is for the future , but your attention is in the present..."

The past is recollection, memory;the future is anticipation;the present is awareness.Therefore, time is the movement of thought.

6. THE LAW OF DETACHMENT

"...in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to reliquish your attachment to it..."

"...chasing symbols is like settling for the map instead of territory. It creates anxiety..."

The search for security and certainty is actually an attachment to the known. And what's the known? The known is our past.Relinquish yuor attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the field of all possibilities.

7. THE LAW OF "DHARMA" OR PURPOSE IN LIFE

"...everyone has a purpose in life, a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exulation of our own spirit , which is the ultimate goal of all goals..."

" I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details."Albert Einstein